Americans’ Top Query: ‘What’s Luxembourg?’ : Wooing Business With Royal Flash
The interview with the prince was scheduled for 7:15 in the morning. Breakfast would be served.
“It’s so early, and that’s the most civilized way to go,” a member of the royal entourage noted as he led the visitor to the atrium of the Le Meridien Hotel in Newport Beach.
At the table drinking orange juice was Crown Prince Henri of Luxembourg, looking as though he had stepped off a page of Gentlemen’s Quarterly.
Tall and blond with blue eyes and a healthy pink complexion, the prince was elegantly attired in a navy blue pinstripe suit with a folded white handkerchief poking stylishly out of his breast pocket.
Two-Week Tour
Prince Henri, 32, the eldest son of the reigning monarch of Luxembourg, is on a mission: to generate U.S. industrial development in his tiny country, which is bordered by France, Belgium and West Germany. He was in Orange County as one of eight stops in a two-week, cross-country trek that began in San Francisco Saturday and will end in Washington.
And Tuesday, Prince Henri had a full itinerary.
He had to leave the hotel at 8:15 for a private meeting with the Orange County Board of Supervisors, who would later present a resolution in honor of the prince and Princess Maria Teresa, who was traveling with him. From there, he would meet with officials at Western Digital Corp. in Irvine, then return to the hotel for a lunch with Orange County business leaders.
After that, the royal couple and their four-person entourage would fly to Denver.
Prince Henri--seated with Jean Faltz, Luxembourg’s West Coast consul general, and with Robert Goebbels, Luxembourg’s
state secretary for foreign affairs, trade and cooperation--spoke freely Tuesday about everything from his country’s business climate to the royal life, including his friendship with Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
Prince Henri listed Luxembourg’s incentives to business: free space in fully equipped industrial parks, cash grants for investments and substantial tax advantages. But a key incentive is the easy access to government officials.
“They don’t have the red tape other countries do,” he said with a grin: “If you have a problem you can dial directly to the financial minister.”
In the last 10 years, Prince Henri said, Luxembourg has attracted about 70 foreign companies, including DuPont and Goodyear, which built its largest facility outside the United States there.
First Visit to County
This is the royal couple’s first visit to Orange County and Prince Henri was impressed, particularly with the skyline.
“I didn’t expect something so modern and so green at the same time,” he said. “It’s a marvelous combination of nature and modern buildings.”
Prince Henri, who has been married for six years and has three children, said it’s not unusual for royalty to go on trips to drum up business for their country.
“There are other examples,” he said. “The Prince of Belgium, the brother of the king, is doing exactly the same thing as I am doing.”
At home, the prince said, he and his Cuban-born wife “have quite a few official things we go to.” The princess is also active with handicapped children, and the prince is a member of the Council of States, which is similar to the British House of Lords.
Prince Henri said he occasionally sees Charles and Diana of Britain, but it’s not often--”maybe once a year or two years. It depends on their traveling and my traveling. Actually, we have closer family links with Belgium, Holland, Spain and the Scandinavian countries.”
Asked what question people most frequently ask him during his visits to America, the prince lit up a brown European cigarette and grinned: “It’s, ‘What’s Luxembourg?’ ”
Goebbels disagreed: “It’s, ‘Does he know Prince Charles and Diana?’ ” he said with a laugh.
Unfamiliar to Americans
Prince Henri readily conceded that most Americans are not familiar with his country.
“That’s why we’re here,” he said with a grin.
With an area of just 999 square miles, Luxembourg is not much larger than 782-square-mile Orange County.
“But,” Goebbels joked, “we have a role in the United Nations and Orange County doesn’t.”
Luxembourgers--all 367,000 of them--are used to such comparisons and counter by reciting the merits of their country. It not only boasts more than 100 medieval castles but a zero inflation rate, a 1.4% unemployment rate and, as Prince Henri noted, no labor strikes in 60 years.
The prince, who will also make stops in Kansas, West Virginia and Virginia, chuckled when asked how most U.S. businessmen react to meeting a prince.
“I don’t know,” he said playfully, “how do you react? I suppose there must be some curiosity: What is it like to be a prince? Here in America, people are so nice and kind. We really feel at home. It’s very agreeable to travel here. It’s never too pompous.”
A ROYAL VISIT Crown Prince Henri of Luxembourg was in Orange County on Tuesday on a trade mission. His goal: to generate U. S. industrial development in his small European nation. Over the past 10 years, the prince said, Luxembourg has attracted about 70 foreign companies, including DuPont and Goodyear, which built its largest facility outside the United States there. The prince sad Orange County is one of eight stops in a two week cross-country trek. LUXEMBOURG POPULATION: 367,000 GNP: $7.41 Billion SIZE: 999 Sq. Miles ORANGE COUNTY POPULATION: 2.2 Million *GROSS PRODUCT: $50 Billion SIZE: 782 Sq. Miles *Estimated 1987 LEAVETT BILES / Los Angeles Times
